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Recommendation 13: Review shift roster and handover processes at incident control centres

Find out what the government is doing in response to this recommendation from the IGEM Inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian bushfire season: Phase 1 report.

On this page

The actions on this page are identified in the Victorian Government response to Recommendation 13 from the IGEM Inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian Fire Season - Phase 1 report.

IGEM Recommendation 13: Incident Control Centres

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in partnership with agencies engaged in state, regional and incident control centres:

Actions

Action 13.1: Update shift roster and handover processes in state, regional and incident control centres

Emergency Management Victoria will commence work with the sector to update shift roster and handover processes including the use and application of existing incident action planning guidance and tools, as well as creation of new tools such as standardised handover templates. We see this action and action 13.2 incorporated into actions 13.3 and 14.6.

Action 13.2: Update training for handover practices and processes in state, regional and incident control centres

Emergency Management Victoria will update the pre-season training content so that handover practices and processes are properly understood in state, regional and incident control centres, as well as reinforcing consistent application of incident action planning, especially during protracted and complex events. We see this action and action 13.1 incorporated into Actions 13.3 and 14.6.

Action 13.3: Examine handover processes and incident action planning via the Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation program

The Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation (RTM&E) program will include examination of handover processes and incident action planning as part of the state’s Assurance and Learning Unit 2020-21 season activity. The RTM&E function monitors operational performance, systems and processes, and evaluations.

Action 13.4: Examine use of compliance auditing across a range of critical incident management practices

Emergency Management Victoria will consider compliance auditing across a range of critical incident management practices, such as measuring progress towards achieving incident objectives and completing handovers, as part of the development of a sector-wide outcomes framework in response to the sector-wide outcomes recommendation in the IGEM Review of 10 years of reform in Victoria’s emergency management sector report.

Action 13.5: Provide Incident Management Team personnel with the training and exercising experiences required of their role

As part of the investment in training for the sector identified in the sector capability and capacity recommendation in the IGEM Review of 10 years of reform in Victoria’s emergency management sector report, the Victorian Government will ensure that Incident Management Team personnel are provided with the training, exercising and simulation experiences required to effectively perform their roles and apply these processes in an environment with increasing complexities and overlapping emergencies.

Action 13.6: Continuous improvement of capability and capacity to respond to the changing complexity of emergency events in Victoria

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recognised the significant achievements of Victoria’s response to the 2019-20 bushfires, despite the challenges presented by the scale, extent and duration of the season.

Resources were drawn from multiple agencies over an extended period, including from other jurisdictions in Australia and internationally.

The complex and prolonged nature of this event and the varying industrial arrangements around shift rotations across a multitude of agencies, made information exchange and handover processes within regional and incident management centres critical.

Action 13.7: Deliver more effective and consistent handover processes across shifts and between personnel

The Victorian Government is committed to improving handover processes, particularly across different shifts and personnel changes, to facilitate more effective and consistent handover and incident management practices.

An update on these actions can be found in IGEM’s progress report

Updated 5 August 2022

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